Chelsea ace should not make another Premier League start warns Paul Scholes

Jordan Henderson finally made his Chelsea debut against his former club Brentford, but Paul Scholes has suggested he shouldn't start again

Paul Scholes has insisted that Jordan Henderson should not make another Premier League start for Chelsea, claiming the midfielder could be 'found out' if he starts regularly. The 36-year-old joined the Blues in the summer after reaching a gentleman's agreement with Brentford to secure his release from the final year of his contract.

Henderson was aware of Chelsea's interest, with newly appointed manager Xabi Alonso keen to bring more experience into his young squad. However, a bizarre injury suffered at the World Cup delayed Henderson's Chelsea debut.

The England international broke his arm while celebrating the Three Lions' victory over Mexico in July, falling over an advertising hoarding as Thomas Tuchel’s players celebrated with supporters at the Azteca. Months later, Henderson finally made his long-awaited debut against his former club Brentford, playing the full 90 minutes.

Despite starting and seeing the game out, Manchester United legend Scholes suggested that Henderson should only be handed another Premier League start in an absolute emergency after questioning Alonso's selection.

"When I saw Danny Welbeck, Welbz is brilliant, and Jordan Henderson playing in the same team, I thought, 'You couldn’t be playing against a worse team,' because Brentford have so much energy about them," Scholes began. "They have so much athleticism about them and I thought, 'That is the worst thing that could happen to them [Chelsea]!'"

Asked whether Henderson should be considered a '45-minute man', Scholes replied: "Maybe not even that long. Maybe a last 20-25 minutes, unless you’re playing League Cup games.

"Look, we’ve been there. At 35, 36, 37, you’re a million miles away from where you should be. You can use your experience to get through games, of course you can, but I think these days, especially now, it’s more of a young man’s game and you will get found out. You will get found out starting a game."

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Scholes then elaborated, drawing on his own experiences from his playing days. "I never expected him to be starting a Premier League game," Scholes continued.

"I don’t care how old you are, how much you look after yourself, being at that age and playing in the Premier League now especially, you’ve got to be a machine.

"You’ve got to be athletic, you don’t get away with it I’m afraid. You get found out. He’ll know it himself. He’ll think, 'I shouldn’t really be starting', I remember I did it against Manchester City when I was 36.

"The manager actually picked me and I thought, 'I shouldn’t be playing this game, I shouldn’t be starting this game… maybe the last 15-20 minutes if it needs calming down a little bit,' and I never got the ball, I never touched the ball. I just knew it was too much for me, I shouldn’t really have been playing."